Ethylene is a stress hormone with contrasting effects on herbivore resistance. However, it remains unknown whether these differences are plant- or herbivore-specific. We cloned a rice 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase gene, OsACS2, whose transcripts were rapidly up-regulated in response to mechanical wounding and infestation by two important pests: the striped stem borer (SSB) Chilo suppressalis and the brown planthopper (BPH) Nilaparvata lugens. Antisense expression of OsACS2 (as-acs) reduced elicited ethylene emission, SSB-elicited trypsin protease inhibitor (TrypPI) activity, SSB-induced volatile release, and SSB resistance. Exogenous application of ACC restored TrypPI activity and SSB resistance. In contrast to SSB, BPH infestation increased volatile emission in as-acs lines. Accordingly, BPH preferred to feed and oviposit on wild-type (WT) plants--an effect that could be attributed to two repellent volatiles, 2-heptanone and 2-heptanol, that were emitted in higher amounts by as-acs plants. BPH honeydew excretion was reduced and natural enemy attraction was enhanced in as-acs lines, resulting in higher overall resistance to BPH. These results demonstrate that ethylene signaling has contrasting, herbivore-specific effects on rice defense responses and resistance against a chewing and a piercing-sucking insect, and may mediate resistance trade-offs between herbivores of different feeding guilds in rice.

Ethylene signaling pathway plays an important role in induced plant direct defense against herbivores and pathogens; however, up to now, only few researches have focused on its role in induced plant indirect defense, i.e. the release of herbivore-induced volatiles, and the results are variable. Using a model system consisting of rice plants, the rice brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens and its egg parasitoid Anagrus nilaparvatae, we examined the role of ethylene signaling in the production of rice volatiles induced by N. lugens by measuring both the timing of herbivore-induced ethylene levels and the relationships between ethylene, rice volatiles and attraction of the parasitoid. N. lugens infestation significantly enhanced the release of ethylene during 2-24 h after infestation. Plants treated with ethephon, a compound that breaks down to release ethylene at cytoplasmic pH, released volatiles profiles similar to those released by N. lugens-infested plants, and both of them showed an equal attraction of the parasitoid. Moreover, pretreatment with 1-MCP, an inhibitor of ethylene perception, reduced the release of most of rice volatiles whose amount was enhanced by N. lugens infestation and decreased the attractiveness to the parasitoid. These results demonstrate that ethylene signaling is required for the production of rice volatiles induced by N. lugens.

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